XXI Olympic Winter Games
A 2010 Winter Olympics logo has not yet been commissioned. Until a new design is chosen, the candidate bid logo is being used by the International Olympic Committee.
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Opening ceremony	February 12, 2010
Closing ceremony	February 26, 2010
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The 2010 Winter Olympics, formally known as the XXI Olympic Winter Games, will be held in Vancouver in the province of British Columbia in Canada. Several venues will also be featured in the resort community of Whistler. The games, the first in North America since Salt Lake City hosted the games in 2002, is expected to be officially opened by the Governor General of Canada on behalf of the Monarch of Canada on February 12 and will be declared closed on February 26 by International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge.

The 2010 Winter Olympics will be the third Olympics hosted by Canada. Previously, it was home to the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal and the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary. The village of Whistler bid for the games before and failed to win.

Contents

1 Bidding 2 Construction 3 Events 4 See also 5 External links

Bidding

Vancouver won the bidding process to host the Olympics by a vote of the International Olympic Committee on July 2, 2003 at a convention in Prague, Czech Republic. Earlier in February, Vancouver's residents were subjected to a referendum accepting the responsibilities of the host city should it win its bid. Sixty-four percent of residents accepted the challenge. Vancouver faced two other finalists chosen that same February: Salzburg, Austria and Pyeongchang, South Korea. There were five other cities vying for the honor that had been dropped by the International Olympic Committee: Andorra la Vella, Andorra; Bern, Switzerland; Harbin, China; Jaca, Spain; Sarajevo,Bosnia and Herzegovina.

There were two rounds of voting at the convention that decided which city would host the games. On the first round, Pyeongchang received 53 votes while Vancouver received 40 votes. Salzburg was eliminated carrying only 16 votes. On the second round of voting Pyeongchang garnered the same 53 votes but Vancouver carried the votes originally cast for Salzburg and garnered 56 votes, winning the bid for the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Construction

The initial challenge Vancouver faced in winning the bid for the 2010 Winter Olympics was fundraising for construction of venues. The committee charged with planning the games received commitments of investment by the federal and provincial governments as well as donations from private corporations and institutions. Such commitments were made enthusiastically as a chance to build on the world prestige Vancouver already gained as host of the 1986 World's Fair and to improve on the technological advances made during that event, like the expansion of the SkyTrain transit system.

As of 2004, the cost of the 2010 Winter Olympics is estimated to be in the range of C$ 1.4 billion. C$620 million is the approximate cost to construct venues throughout Vancouver and Whistler, C$200 million is expected to be spent for security, C$600 million will be used to refit the Sea-to-Sky Highway to accommodate increased traffic between Vancouver and Whistler. Vancouver and Whistler will maintain an operating budget of about C$2 billion from the provincial and federal governments.

Events

Fifteen winter sports events were announced as part of the 2010 Winter Olympics. Eight events categorized as Ice Sports were included: bobsleigh, luge, skeleton, ice hockey, figure skating, speed skating, speed skating short track, curling. Three sports were categorized as Alpine, Skiing and Snowboarding events: alpine, freestyle and snowboarding. Four sports categorized as Nordic Events were included: biathlon, cross country skiing, ski jumping, nordic combined.

See also

• 2010 Winter Paralympics
• 2010 in Canada
• Winter Olympics
• Olympics

External links

• Official Website of the 2010 Winter Olympics

Olympic Games

Summer Olympic Games

1896 | 1900 | 1904 | 1906* | 1908 | 1912 | 1916 | 1920 | 1924 | 1928 | 1932 | 1936 | 1940 | 1944 | 1948 | 1952 | 1956 | 1960 | 1964 | 1968 | 1972 | 1976 | 1980 | 1984 | 1988 | 1992 | 1996 | 2000 | 2004 | 2008 | 2012 | 2016

Winter Olympic Games

1924 | 1928 | 1932 | 1936 | 1948 | 1952 | 1956 | 1960 | 1964 | 1968 | 1972 | 1976 | 1980 | 1984 | 1988 | 1992 | 1994 | 1998 | 2002 | 2006 | 2010 | 2014 | 2018

* The 1906 Olympic were organised by the IOC, but are currently not officially recognised by the IOC, although most Olympic historians disagree.